New: Yesterday Indiana University unlocked several rooms in the bio building, but Innes' lab and some critical shared equipment are still locked down. Meanwhile, researchers have had to label thousands of biological samples in advance of a USDA inspection. My reporting on the latest in this saga:

hallelujah

Today, the University of Maine's Vice Chancellor for Finance and Strategic AI Integration (who made $243,000 last year) sent UMaine campuses an announcement that we have partnered with OpenAI with a contract for ChatGPT Edu. I sent him the following questions:

A reminder that there is no profit model for solar geoengineering other than capture of government appropriations. In the absence of systemic governance and policy, VC investors can get their return only through public corruption, not technological innovation.

For those who prefer text to video:

NEW: ArXiv, the open-access repository of preprint academic research, will ban authors of papers for a year if they submit obviously AI-generated work. www.404media.co/new-arxiv-ru...

It's good to see some reality and sanity from a respected source being applied to such concepts.

U.S. scientists and federal funding have been key contributors to global scientific sea level projection research. Those roles are now threatened, write @andrajgarner.bsky.social, @bobkopp.net, @gggarner121.bsky.social, Aimée B. A. Slangen, and Benjamin P. Horton. eos.org/opinions/the...

People are getting way out over their skis with this. The 1.5 billion figure is not going to immediately materialize and this program, like others in the TIP directorate, would have oversight and go through merit review. You can read about the exact steps in the solicitation. sam.gov/workspace/co...

No date for a Senate markup, but in general there has been more support for keeping the status quo there than in the House. (Last year House CJS advocated a 20% cut, Senate CJS opted for flat budgets—the Senate basically won.)

Yes. Also, academic peer reviewers work for free, while many journals (I’m looking at you, elsevier) have enormous profits. Journals need to do a basic check for fake refs (DOIs make this easy) and if they refuse, academics should refuse to lend their time and effort to those journals.

While it might seem like an impossible task in 2026, a way out of our societal lows is (echoing @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social) to bring back shame as a force of good. In this case, if you’re an academic and submit a paper *with hallucinated references*, a bare minimum is this 👇🏼

A recurring thought I’ve had about NSF: If one were managing roughly the same budget as last year, but with a significantly smaller staff, what would that incentivize? Probably fewer, bigger grants to reduce the administrative overhead.

NSF will be spending 150 million/yr through the TIP directorate to "advance breakthrough science outside of traditional institutions." What are traditional institutions in this context? Unclear. But traditionally, NSF has put funding towards institutions of higher education.

One of the "funny" things about academia is that it selects for people who are determined to continue to do research no matter what. So here we continue to write proposals, advice students, and prepare papers while the world burns. One day they'll find me like this, working on a pending proposal.

The house budget is overall pretty terrible for NSF but this was nice to see. docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/...

I mostly agree with the skeptical (to say the least) takes about this new NSF initiative, but just to clarify this is 1.5 B *over a decade*, so 150 M/year, or <2% of NSF's annual budget. NSF will need serious reforming before that decade is over or we're in serious trouble.

NASA Appropriations final markup table (Jan 2026) versus #NASA Proposed Appropriations for FY2027 (May 2026) Same overall number, but decrease in science funding.

NSF’s office of polar programs recently announced they are working with about 1/3 of the staff they had just a little over a year ago. Wanton destruction of the goverment capacity to execute the budget that Congress passed and the president signed into law.

On being a polar scientist--with a camera to share about it--in the USA in 2026. Read to hear about science, its role in society, & my journey to science through the US public K-12 / university system. Shoutouts to my parents, FDR, Vannevar Bush, Richard Byrd… delphizero.substack.com/p/pete

🚨You can help—ACT NOW🚨 Tell the Senate to reject House cuts to science funding—20% for NSF and 17% for NASA Science. These cuts threaten research, STEM education, and critical data for weather & safety. 🌎 📧 Contact your Senators 📣 Spread the word agu.quorum.us/campaign/162...

A short, very clear statement from MIT's president about the impact the budget cuts are having on her institution. This is happening across the country.

House Democrats are denouncing the Trump-GOP plan to eviscerate US science, including * A 20% cut to the National Science Foundation * A 14% cut to the NASA Science Mission Directorate * A 14% cut to NIST * An 11% cut to NOAA’s operations, research, and facilities budget

🚨 Proposed House cuts: 20% to NSF, 17% to NASA Science 🚨 Over 6,000 actions were taken by our advocates to support science funding this year—let’s keep the momentum going. Urge Senate to reject these cuts and protect science. 👇ACT NOW👇 agu.quorum.us/campaign/162...

Hey ocean friends! 🌊 Apply to be a 2027 Knauss fellow! Spend a year working in Congress to advance science, research & evidence-based policy. You are needed! I was in the class of 2006 serving in the U.S. Senate & it fundamentally changed my life. seagrant.noaa.gov/communities/... #science

Sign of the times: a university press release that's just a Q&A with a faculty member talking about the termination of the National Science Board.

great video.

The key thing to understand about the LMS industry is that their clients *are not* the software users (faculty, students) but the administrators and IT departments. The latter get all the benefits (outsourcing, economies of scale) and the former suffer through bugs and poor design.

Fascinating thread, and study, about the relationship between age and academic creativity www.science.org/eprint/BWAPG...

Canvas, the Strait of Hormuz for American education

This is video from later in the day of the #TracyArm tsunami, showing how the wave just obliterated the forest, tens of kilometres from the landslide. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

ACLS / MLA / AHA / Authors Guild won the NEH case against the mass termination of grants.

News about the NCAR lawsuit

Per office hours today, NSF Office of Polar Programs now in Office of the Director. Arctic and Antarctic Sciences sections now one Polar Science. Doing more with less vibes. Administration priorities heavily feature in slide deck, as does AI content in slides which conveys a lot between the lines…

Amen

I am now apparently a court reporter! I was at the legal hearing this morning in Denver over NSF's initial moves to dismantle NCAR. Some notes will follow later, as we're working on a story at the moment.

The Trump administration has terminated more than 100 advisory committees to #science agencies and reduced the transparency and independence of those that remain. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Join us Thursday!

🚨New paper about the second largest tsunami ever recorded, just published in @science.org A short 🧪⚒️🌊 thread #EGU26 @ucalgary.bsky.social @ucalgaryscience.bsky.social doi.org/10.1126/scie...

📢 Job Alert; open-ended post!! We are seeking an observational oceanographer, with a keen interest in instrumentation and fieldwork in the polar regions. Please share and help connect us with the right candidate! fa-evzn-saasfaukgovprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

For those who reached out asking how to help: This gofundme is specifically for graduate students who lost personal items, computers, tablets, etc. in the fire. We were told that these items are not retrievable or reimbursable -an added burden for students during a devastating time. Plz share 🌊💙

As many know, there was a massive fire at USF CMS. The building held offices, labs, equipment, etc and is a total loss. We are most concerned about the finanpcial losses of our students. Please consider donating to the official go fund me supporting our graduate students.

Are you an MSc student looking for a thesis topic? Interested in Greenland, Antarctica atmosphere and ice sheet processes? Background in meteorology, geography, earth science or physics (or other quantitative discipline? Then do I have the project for you...

A sad day. Jorge Sarmiento, one of the greats in ocean science, passed away today. Jorge was a model leader; thoughtful, compassionate, and an excellent scientist. His leadership of @soccomproject.bsky.social transformed @bgc-argo.bsky.social into a global system.

Join us Thursday!

📣ECR Alert: Southern Ocean science needs more than just data—it needs connection. SOOS & APECS are seeking ECRs to join various SOOS leadership teams. Help connect science & people across regions—while building your network, visibility & experience 🗓 Apply by 18 May 👉 www.apecs.is/news/apecs-n...

We stand with and support our world class colleagues at @cmarinescience.bsky.social amidst this horrible tragedy! 🌊https://www.usf.edu/news/2026/050326-update-on-structure-fire-in-msl-building-on-usf-stpetersburg-campus.aspx